How to Watch 2025 March Madness Without Cable

March Madness is back, bringing the chaos, excitement, and heartbreak that make it one of the most thrilling events in sports. The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off on Selection Sunday with 68 teams battling through a high-stakes, single-elimination gauntlet. Only the strongest will survive the madness, fighting their way to the Final Four and, ultimately, the national championship. Just because you’ve ditched cable doesn’t mean you’ll have to sit this one out. With skinny bundle streaming services, you can catch every dunk, dagger three, and overtime thriller from the First Four to the Final Four without a cable subscription. So lace up, grab your brackets, and get ready to watch the madness unfold, with or without a cable subscription.

Selection Sunday, the official start to March Madness, is set for Sunday, March 16. The 68-team fields for the men’s tournament will be announced on Selection Sunday on CBS and the women’s on ESPN. Then, the First Four games starting on March 18 will kick off the tournament and whittle down the 68 teams to the final bracket of 64. The men’s tournament starts in Dayton, Ohio, with the first and second rounds playing out in Providence, Rhode Island; Seattle, Washington; Cleveland, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Lexington, Kentucky. More information about specific games will become available after Selection Sunday.

March Madness men’s games will be broadcast across CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV. Women’s games will be available on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2. That makes it easy to tune in with cable, but what if you’ve cut the cord? The tournament has official streaming partners: Max for TBS, TNT, and TruTV games, and Paramount+ for CBS games.

However, the official platforms aren’t the only way to tune in. Skinny bundle streaming services let you watch the games on your streaming platform of choice. These services have on-demand content as well as hundreds of live TV channels to add to your subscription. It’s a more affordable and less restrictive option than cable. Streamers like Hulu + Live TV and FuboTV offer live TV channels including CBS, TBS, and many more, allowing you to catch live March Madness games with your subscription.

CBS is a “Big Four” network broadcast through affiliate stations across the country. If your area broadcasts local TV channels from a nearby TV tower, you can most likely pick up CBS games for free over the air using an HD TV antenna.

Here’s the full list of options to watch March Madness without cable:

• DIRECTV
• FuboTV
• Sling TV
• Hulu + Live TV
• ESPN+
• Paramount+
• Max
• YouTube TV
• March Madness Live
• Free Over-the-Air TV

Below is the full March Madness schedule with dates, times, and networks that will air the specific round.

If you watch March Madness on a major streaming platform like Max or Paramount+, you’ll have the freedom to switch between any screen you want. Streaming devices like Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, or Chromecast connect your streaming service of choice to your TV or any other screen. That means you can watch March Madness on the flatscreen, in bed, or even on the go — just connect your streaming service by logging in on your streaming device.

Madness is a state of mind, so don’t limit yourself to streaming just the games. News, recaps, and additional coverage for men’s games can be found on ESPN, where you can also watch live games from the women’s tournament. ESPN Plus is a great streaming choice for die-hard sports fans. It shows live sports from WWE to cricket as well as plenty of news and analysis, event replays, and on-demand sports documentaries and specials for fans who can’t get enough coverage.

Still looking for more action? Try FS1, the second-biggest sports network on TV. One of the best places to find regular season NCAA and Big Ten games, FS1 is also home to Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and more.